


loyalty

by interstellarcadence



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: inspired by a drawing on tumblr, really short drabble, this is just pure angst honestly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-21 23:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16586663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interstellarcadence/pseuds/interstellarcadence
Summary: “i wish to talk about lancer,” the king says. there’s a certain rise and fall to his voice, a flow that makes it impossible to envision a better way of saying those words. it scares rouxls.♠️♠️♠️lancer's allegiance is questioned. / tw for referenced emotional abuse





	loyalty

rouxls listens to his heels click on the throne room’s floor. the rhythm has a pendulum like steadiness. it should be calming, but his gut is spooling and unspooling itself into knots. he has an awful habit of fidgeting with the sides of his coat. he does not plan on breaking it.

he reaches the threshold. he falls to his knee in a bow.

“you may rise, duke.”

the kings voice ricochets through every empty part of rouxls. he stands.

“thank you, your serene highness.”

“i wish to talk about lancer,” the king says. there’s a certain rise and fall to his voice, a flow that makes it impossible to envision a better way of saying those words. it scares rouxls. “he seems to be… _ignorant_ of our cause.”

“mine own observances wouldst second this. thine son seem’st to mostly tarry, aimless amongst the kingdom. such behavior is common amongst younglings.” rouxls is cautious, deliberate even. protective.

“do you think he could side with the enemy?”

lancer? oh gods, yes, of course. the kid was so desperate for any form of companionship, so deprived of any social interaction. all the other jacks were locked up, somewhere. any other princes would be captured on sight,for fear of the prophecy. he had no one. and if there truly were another prince, a lightner, and a monster…

but the king can’t think about that. rouxls won’t let him.

“no, your highness.” his voice shakes. the king notices.

“do i have any reason to suspect dishonesty from you, my duke?”

rouxls feels his hands tremor. he clutches his coat tighter.

“of course not, your highness. mine loyalty lies only with you.” there’s that nervous, toothy smile. he swears the portraits detailing the spade kings of past are burning holes into him. he feels as though he might pass out. but he can’t. not for his, or lancer’s sake.

“really?” the king asks. his second mouth smiles. how the predator delights in suffocating the prey. “then why do i feel as though you are lying to me?”

every awful memory dances in the hall around rouxls. lancer running towards him, clutching onto his leg, crying. and the nightmares, rouxls waking to a small voice asking to read him a story. maybe there was a time when you could call the court a family. you could say lancer was taken care of. loved, even. but with the appearance of the knight all of that changed.

the king taps his foot. rouxls snaps out of his own head. he’s gotta do something, and do it now.

“wormes!” rouxls blurts out. “becauseth, mine lord, i have forgottene to informeth thou that thine sone’s wormes hath all died! i was instructed to watcheth over these petulant creatures, and yet, i’ve found them all perished!”

the king looks at rouxls in much the same way a cat looks at a mouse, still writhing under its paw. he displays a sickly sweet smile.

“oh?” he toys, letting the world hang in the air. “very well then. i will pardon you, just this once, duke. but know this-” his face becomes engulfed in shadow. his teeth bared in some mixture of threat and smile. “if i find you’ve withheld information from me, rouxls, i will show no mercy.”

rouxls nods, smiles. tears bud at his eyes. how merciful his king is. he bows.

“of course, your highness.”

the king’s face returns to its usual confident smile. the cat lets the mouse scurry away.

“you are dismissed.”

and later that night, when lancer sniffles his way into the duke’s room, he finds rouxls crying in his sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> hello if u want more ooc rouxls pls comment and maybe follow me on tumblr???? (@richtercard)  
> buy me a coffee? <3 ko-fi.com/damnpyre


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